Days Out with Thomas
Day Out with Thomas (Originally named Friends of Thomas the Tank Engine) is a trade name licensed by HiT Entertainment for tourist events that take place on heritage railways and feature one or more engines decorated to look like characters from Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends. History The Nene Valley Railway at Peterborough in England was the first railway in the world to possess a full-scale replica Thomas. This was an industrial tank engine built by Hudswell Clarke that had been nicknamed "Thomas" due to its blue livery and resemblance to the famous tank engine. In 1971 the Reverend W. Awdry made the name official. HiT Entertainment later tried - unsuccessfully - to sue the Nene Valley Railway on the grounds that the engine was breaching their trademark. The case was dismissed as the name was given by the Reverend W. Awdry. Since then, other tank engines around the world have been dressed up as Thomas. Some railways have gone so far as to rebuild locomotives in order to produce a better replica. This has divided preservationists: those opposed claim it disfigures historic locomotives and trivialises the preservation movement; those in favour claim they draw visitors and can kindle an interest in children. Many "Thomas'" aren't actually real engines; they are really "shells" built around a smoke machine. Some railways have developed a further source of income in the hire of "Thomases" to railways that do not have a "Thomas" of their own. Events by country United Kingdom Many railways now host Day Out With Thomas events. Some feature just Thomas, while others feature other engines like Diesel, Percy, Donald and Douglas, Duck, Oliver, James, Henry, Toby, Bill and Ben, Spencer, Fergus, Arthur, Murdoch, Emily, Rosie, Daisy, S. C. Ruffey, Toad, the Diesel, and Mavis. The Talyllyn Railway have "Duncan Days" events, in which they dress up some of their locomotives as the Skarloey Railway engines. The engines are repainted red, to match their Railway Series counterparts, Duncan is a pivotal character during this events. The Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway often have special events similar to this, in which they dress up some of their locomotives to resemble the Arlesdale Railway engines. United States There are seven travelling "Thomases", all standard gauge except for two narrow gauge engines. While travelling between events, the engines are disguised. Thomas appears in full dress at Day Out with Thomas events hosted by railroads in arrangement with HiT Entertainment. Many of the larger railroad museums and tourist railroads host Day Out with Thomas events periodically. There are two real engines (One coal fired, one oil fired) and five dummies. The five dummies were made at Strasburg Railroad in Pennsylvania. The coal fired engine is former Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal #15, converted into a Thomas replica in 1999. It currently resides at the Strasburg Railroad and is lent out to other railroads from time to time. The oil fired engine travels between numerous railroads, including the Henry Ford, Deleware River Railroad, and numerous others. In 2014, all of the dummies along with the BEDT#15 engine were updated with a CGI-style face and animatronic features, allowing Thomas to "talk". The NC Transportation Museum's 2014 event as well the Strasburg Railroad and Orange Empire Railway Museum's Thomas events will feature a full-sized replica of Percy, making it the first US event to feature engines other than Thomas. New Zealand Mainline Steam's Bagnall tank engine has appeared as "Thomas" on a number of different locations, including the extremely popular biannual "Day Out with Thomas the Tank Engine" weekends at the Glenbrook Vintage Railway. In the Hutt Valley, the Silver Stream Railway has a Thomas-like engine on display at its entrance. Australia * In Queensland, The Workshops Rail Museum adds faces to their engines, coaches, and road vehicles resembling Edward, Lady, Donald, Douglas, D199, Annie, Clarabel, Trevor, and George. An engine previously used for James is currently undergoing an overhaul. The event also uses a life size Thomas replica which is not a real engine. * Timbertown Heritage Village in New South Wales holds yearly events featuring replicas of Thomas, Rosie, Cranky and George. * In Victoria, the 2 ft 6in Puffing Billy Railway decorates their 0-4-0st Pekett as Thomas. On occasion, a face is added to their traction engine, to look like Trevor. Other engines belonging to the railway are often given faces. * In New South Wales, the Zig Zag Railway, Lithgow held an event referred to as "Friends of Thomas", utilizing engines resembling Thomas, James, Donald, and Douglas. Thomas events at the Zig Zag have discontinued with the closure of the line on June 17th, 2012. The NSW Rail Transport Museum, Thirlmere also holds an event, with engines resembling Thomas, Toby, Henry, and Donald. Netherlands In the Netherlands, the "Zuid Limburgse Stoomtrein Maatschapij" (South Limburg Steam Engine Railway) has a "Day out with Thomas" once a year. For this event, they get a steam engine, which looks like Thomas, from the United Kingdom. They use different engines, depending on the engine they get each year. They use their own engines as Thomas' friends. Japan In Japan, a C11-type steam locomotive (No. 227) was decorated as Thomas by placing a face with moving eyes on the smokebox, as well as painting the body blue and adding a "splasher" on the running board. This engine will run in the summer of 2014 on the Oigawa Railway in Shimada, Shizuoka Prefecture. In addition, a JNR Class 9600 decorated as Hiro is being displayed at the station yard of Senzu Station as well as a diesel locomotive disguised as Rusty. Thomas will run daily on a 37.2-kilometer route between Shinkanaya Station in Shimada and Senzu Station in Kawane-Honcho in the prefecture for about two months. On its first test run, three coaches the engine has been pulling were painted orange, in the vein of Annie and Clarabel. On the official opening run, more coaches were added to the train. It is said by the Oigawa Railway, James will be making an appearince starting next year in 2015. It is possible that the JNR Class 56 that runs on the Oigawa line will be decorated as James. Both James and Thomas will be operating together with their own trains by the summer of June to October. A full-size replica of Percy has recently been made for the next summer event in 2015, and is on display with the Class 9600 at Senzu Station. A rusted disused JNR C10, C11 or C12-type steam locomotive that doesn't operate anymore, was revamped into the replica of Percy. It's clearly unknown what the original built numbers of the locomotive were, or what class design it really is. Off the Rails Since 2008 many heritage railways in the UK have withdrawn their Day out With Thomas events due to HiT's revised licensing conditions, which include the requirement for enhanced criminal records (CRB) checks on railway staff and volunteers and training courses for actors playing The Fat Controller. Several railways were affected and have not had Thomas back on their events list since. "Jimmy the Jinty" took over for the East Lancashire Railway in 2009. Despite a two year absence, taken over by Underground Ernie, the Thomas license returned to Eastleigh Lakeside Steam Railway in 2010. Events at the Elsecar Heratige Railway were axed in 2010 due to the new prices and had been replaced by Peppa Pig until 2013. Thomas also left the Great Central Railway in 2009 and was replaced by Ivor the Engine until 2012. However, Thomas returned to the East Lancashire Railway as of 2011 and a year later was welcomed back at the Severn Valley Railway, Churnet Valley Railway, and the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway. however the Midland Railway Centre and the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Railway, both announced that due to spiraling costs and a decline in the number of visitors to their Thomas events, they will no longer be hosting events during 2013, but the first time in five years, events returned to the North Norfolk Railway, as from 2014, the East Somerset Railway will be cutting Thomas weekends. After ending the partnership held with Mega Blocks since 2010 and now partnered with Fisher Price, the franchise relaunched in 2013 with a new website and with expanded promotion and advertising. However, due to the changes, only twenty railways in the UK now hold a license for Thomas weekends. According to a plan on slideshare.net, the current license is expected to last up until 2015. The Nene Valley Railway is currently overhauling their Thomas loco. UK * Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway * Caledonian Railway * Colne Valley Railway * Dean Forest Railway * East Lancashire Railway * Gloucester Warwickshire Railway * Kent & East Sussex Railway * Kirklees Light Railway * Llangollen Railway * Mid-Hants Railway * Nene Valley Railway * North Norfolk Railway * South Devon Railway * West Somerset Railway Former UK Railways * The National Railway Museum * Battlefield Line Railway * North Yorkshire Moors Railway * Midland Railway Centre * Embsay & Bolton Abbey Railway * East Lancashire Railway * Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway * Severn Valley Railway * Churnet Valley Railway * Cleethorpes Light Railway * Telford Steam Railway * Wensleydale Railway * Elsecar Heratige Railway * Swanage Railway * Great Central Railway * East Somerset Railway US/Canada * Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum * Roaring Camp Railroads * Orange Empire Railway * Colorado Railroad Museum * Essex Steam Train * Gold Coast Railroad Museum * Florida Railroad Museum * Sam Shortline * Illinois Railway Museum * Whitewater Valley Railroad * French Lick Scenic Railway * Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad * Midland Railway * Kentucky Railway Museum * Boothbay Railway Village * B&O Railroad Museum * Edaville USA * Henry Ford Museum * Crossroads V & Huckleberry RR * Lake Superior Railroad Museum * North Shore Scenic Railroad * Tweetsie Railroad * NC Transportation Museum * Conway Scenic Railroad * Delaware River RR Excursions * Medina Railroad Museum * Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad * Lebanon Mason Monroe Railroad * Oklahoma Railway Museum * Strasburg Rail Road * Tennessee Valley Railroad * Tennessee Central Railway * Austin Steam Train * Grapevine Vintage Railroad * Northwest Railway Museum * National Railroad Museum * Heritage Park Historical Village * West Coast Railway Heritage Park * Prairie Dog Central Railway * Elgin County Railway Museum * Heber Valley Railroad Australia/New Zealand * The Workshops Rail Museum * Puffing Billy Railway * Glenbrook Vintage Railway * Trainworks Rail Heritage Trivia * Some events feature characters who are exclusive to the Railway Series. On other occasions, they introduce "new" unofficial characters. Promotional Gallery File:OriginalDayOutwithThomasLogo.PNG|Original UK logo File:DayOutwithThomaslogo.jpg|2004 US logo File:DayOutwithThomas2005logo.jpg|2005 US logo File:DayOutwithThomas2006logo.jpg|2006 US logo File:DayOutwithThomas2007logo.jpg|2007 US logo File:DayOutwithThomas2008logo.jpg|2008 US logo File:DayOutwithThomas2009Logo.jpg|2009 US logo File:DayOutwithThomas2010Logo.jpg|2010 US logo File:DayOutwithThomas2011Logo.jpg|2011 US logo File:DayOutwithThomas2012Logo.png|2012 US logo File:DayOutwithThomas2013logo.png|2013 US logo File:DayOutwithThomas2014logo.png|2014 US logo File:DOWTLogo2015.png|70'th anniversary logo File:HolidayOutwithThomaslogo.jpg|Holiday US logo File:DayOutWithThomaspromo.png|UK promo File:DayOutwithThomasUSadvertisement.png|US 2010 advertisement File:TheCelebrationTour2015.png|2015 Celebration Tour advertisement UK Gallery File:TheNeneValleyRailway's"Thomas".jpg|The Nene Valley Railway's "Thomas" File:DayOutwithThomasThomas.jpg File:"Real"Thomas.PNG File:KirkleesLightRailway'sThomas.jpg|Kirklees Light Railway's Thomas (Hawk no.3) File:MidHantsRailway'sThomas.jpg|The Mid Hants Railway's Thomas File:DayOutwithThomasandtheFatController.png|Thomas and the Fat Controller File:Percyreal1.jpg|Percy File:Percyreal3.jpg File:Percy and Diesel at National Railway Museum.jpg|Percy at NRM File:DayOutwithThomasFatController.jpg|Sir Topham Hatt File:AlfredandJudy.jpg|Bill and Ben File:DOWTBill.jpg File:D5705asBoCo.jpg|D5705 as BoCo File:DaisyatDayOutWithThomas.jpg|Daisy File:DayOutwithThomasFergus.jpg|Fergus File:FergusSirTophamHattandOtherRailwayDieselsAtDOWT.jpg|Fergus with the Fat Controller and two diesels at the NRM File:Murdoch_at_Day_out_with_Thomas.jpg|Murdoch File:DayOutWithThomasArthur.jpg|Arthur File:DayOutWithThomasSpencer.jpg|Spencer File:D199DayOutwithThomas.jpg|D199 File:The"real"S.C.Ruffey.jpg|S.C.Ruffey File:DayOutWithThomasS.C.Ruffey.jpg|S.C. Ruffey on the Bluebell Railway File:DayoutwithThomasRickety.JPG|Rickety File:DayOutwithThomasToad.JPG|Toad WoodenRailwayDOWTCoalCar2006.jpg|2006 Wooden Railway Day Out with Thomas Coal Car WoodenRailwayDOWTCaboose2007.jpg|2007 Wooden Railway Day Out with Thomas Caboose WoodenRailwayDOWTWaterTanker2008.jpg|2008 Wooden Railway Day Out with Thomas Water Tanker File:DayOutwithThomas2010wooden.jpg|2010 Wooden Railway Day Out with Thomas Thomas US Gallery File:USDayOutwithThomas.jpg File:DayOutwithThomas.jpg File:ThomasatIllinois.jpg File:"real"AmericanThomas.jpg|Strasburg Railroad's Thomas File:StrasburgRailroad'sThomas.jpg File:ThomasinBaltimore.jpg File:DayOutwithThomasUSreplica(2014).jpg File:ThomasReplicainOhio.jpg File:ThomasinNewHampshire.jpg File:B.E.D.T.15.jpg File:ThomasatMichigan.jpg File:ThomasatDelaware.jpg File:USADOWTPercy1.jpg|Percy's first American model in Day Out with Thomas File:PercyatStrasburg.jpg File:Percyatnorthcarolina.jpg File:DOWTThomasandPercy.jpg|Thomas & Percy in Strasburg File:ThomasandPercyatStrasburg.jpg File:StrasburgRailroadThomasandPercy.jpg File:ThomasLandUSThomasDummy.jpg File:ThomasinAlabama.jpg ThomasinMaine.jpg Australia/New Zealand Gallery File:TheWorkshopsRailMuseumOriginalThomasReplica.jpg|The Workshops Rail Museum's original Thomas replica File:TheWorkshopsRailMuseumThomasPromo.jpg|The Workshops Rail Museum's Thomas in Queensland, Australia File:2015WorkshopsRailMuseumDOWTPromo.png|The Workshops' Thomas in 2015 File:TheWorkshopsRailMuseumEdwardandJames.JPG|Edward and James File:TheWorkshopsRailMuseumD199.JPG|D199 File:TheWorkshopsRailMuseumDonald.JPG|Donald File:TheWorkshopsRailMuseumDouglas.JPG|Douglas File:TheWorkshopsRailMuseumLady.JPG|Lady File:TheWorkshopsRailMuseumAnnie.JPG|Annie File:TheWorkshopsRailMuseumTrevor.JPG|Trevor File:BellarineRailway'sThomas.jpg|Bellarine Railway's Thomas File:NewSouthWales'Thomas.jpg|New South Wales Rail Transport Museum's Thomas replica File:Henry_at_Day_out_with_Thomas.jpg|Henry File:ZigZagRailway'sThomas.jpg|The Zig Zag Railway's Thomas File:GlenbrookVintageRailway'sThomas.jpg|Glenbrook Vintage Railway's Thomas File:PuffingBillyRailway'sThomasReplica.jpg|Puffing Billy Railway's Thomas File:TimbertownThomas.jpg|Timbertown's Thomas File:TimbertownCranky.jpg|Timbertown's Cranky Japan Gallery File:OigawaRailway'sThomas.jpg|Thomas File:OigawaRailway'sHiro.jpg|Hiro File:OigawaRailway'sRusty.jpg|Rusty OigawaRailwayPercyReplica.png|Percy File:OigawaRailwayThomasHiroandtheFatController.jpg File:OigawaRailwayPlarailThomas.jpg|Plarail File:TomicaOigawaRailway'sThomas.jpg|Tomica Category:Miscellaneous Category:Parks and Events